• Luke 5:27-32 (NIV) ²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, ²⁸ and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. ²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

  This is so great, the first thing Levi does as a new follower of Jesus was to invite all his friends over to his house for a party so that they could meet Jesus.  One thing I know, they were not Christ-followers – they were probably other tax collectors – people who were rough and raucous and well…sinners!  

 

But that is exactly why Levi wanted them to meet Jesus – so that they could experience His love and grace.  So he throws a party!  My kind of guy!  He invited neighbors, friends, clients, other tax collectors and they had fun together.  They ate, played games, laughed and had a great time together.    

 

We are throwing a Levi party this coming Saturday.  The family BBQ is designed exactly for this reason.  We are going to eat together, have fun together, we are going to be the good news before we share the Good News.    So there is still time, let’s go all out for this party this Saturday.

 

I am asking you to…

INVITE – Personally invite at least 3 people who don’t attend DSC to the Family BBQ.  

 

CONNECT – At the BBQ, engage in meaningful conversation with people you don’t already know and begin to build a relationship with them.   Relationship is the currency for discipleship. It is our goal to develop meaningful connections with guests that would lead to an opportunity to show them the love of God.  

 

MEET A NEED – As you connect with people, if you discover a need they have, do what you can to meet it.   Jesus was always looking to meet people’s needs when he saw them. Whether it was praying for healing, sharing the truth, inviting them to follow him, or something else, Jesus made the most of every opportunity to meet the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of people.  

 

I am praying that many people will get a chance to experience Jesus this weekend as we all do our part to make this happen.